On Saturday, September 19, 2026, at sunrise, Professor Jacques Besson put down his mythical hat for the last time here below.
Professor emeritus for the university. Humanist before the Eternal for all those who have crossed his path.
And we suspect him of having chosen his time: leaving with the light coming back, that’s all him.
He wanted to stay straight in his boots until the end. He did it. And between the boots and the hat, there was a huge heart, still on the hand.
This hat, here it is, placed in the morning sun. Jacques and his hat was an art: we saw the hat coming, and we knew that the conversation would become exciting, and that we would laugh. Because Jacques was the humour embodied. He went from neurobiology to theology by the path of a good word, and it was often the right word that treated best.
President of our Foundation, he made possible a completely crazy project: to believe as a realist a community transdisciplinary centre in psychedelic-assisted therapies, where training, therapy and research intersect under the impetus of the people concerned, those whose lived experience becomes the compass here.
He imagined it possible, the sparkling eye and with the unfailing strength and conviction that inhabited it.
He taught us that a society in existential vacuum needs to regain meaning.
That this meaning is found in the reliance: to our humanity… to our humanities.
Above all, he taught us that in the face of shadows, the best answer is absolute love.
As in this image, the shadow crosses the fabric, and the straw keeps all the warmth of the sun. Jacques was like that. He welcomed the shadow, and he stayed warm.
Here he went to explore this other world that has always fuelled his curiosity, convictions and humanistic momentum. There too, we must have seen the hat arrive first.
The centre you imagined possible, we will make it live. With demand, with joy, with love and light. In your own way.
Thank you, Professor. Thank you, the explorer of consciences. Thank you, friend.
Enjoy your trip, Jacques. One day, you will tell us what you discover there. And knowing your sense of formula, we will laugh.